Slovakia and Italy edged closer to a Fed Cup final showdown on Saturday after sweeping to 2-0 leads over fading Russia and defending champion Czech Republic respectively.

Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova battled back from a set down to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in Moscow. Then Daniela Hantuchova, three days shy of her 30th birthday, made it 2-0 by beating Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4 despite languishing 62 places beneath the Russian on rankings.

''I played well and I'm really happy with my performance,'' said Hantuchova. ''I have experience of playing in the Fed Cup and it helped me a lot to win. I felt confident and everything went my way from the start.''

Meanwhile, wet weather in Chiasso, Switzerland, has further delayed the World Group play-off between Australia and Switzerland, scheduled to start on Saturday. It was due to get under way at 8pm on Sunday, Melbourne time. Australia needs to win to remain in the competition's top eight.

In other play-offs, world No. 1 Serena Williams cruised past Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-2 to pull the US level with Sweden at 1-1.

Spain, which won the last of its five Fed Cup titles back in 1998, took a 2-0 lead on Japan in Barcelona. And Germany was 1-1 with Serbia in Stuttgart.